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May 16, 2003, 0500 PDT (FTW) – From
The Wilderness today ran a full-page ad in the front
section of The Washington Post intended to educate
the American people, support heroic leaders and promote
a number of independent media outlets which have made
important contributions since 9/11. The ad was the direct
result of a donation from a subscriber who had recently
viewed FTW Publisher Mike Ruppert's video "The
Truth and Lies of 9-11". The ad that ran today was actually
a second version, the text of which had to be changed
after the first version apparently caused some nervousness
in Washington.

It's an interesting story.

Here is
the ad.Click on it to see a larger version.
However, it may not be perfectly readable.
Use the links above to get a readable copy.
Be aware that it is 480K in size...

The text of the first ad,
which reached the Post on April 23rd,
contained two sections of well-supported text that were
sharply critical of Army Secretary Thomas White. White
was suddenly fired by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld
three days after the ad reached the Post. FTW has
not been able to confirm that the ad was leaked but publisher
Michael Ruppert strongly suspects it.

"It started when we got a
call from a retired business executive who was so incensed
by what he had seen in the 9/11 tape that he decided
he wanted to do something with his own good fortune to
make a difference. He specifically said that he wanted
to buy us a full-page in the Post and that we
could write anything we wanted," said Ruppert. "His only
condition was that he remain anonymous. FTW never
handled any of the fee – in
excess of $20,000 -- to purchase the space and not once
did our subscriber try to influence its content. I wrote
the ad and three wonderful human beings contributed to
it."

The three contributors who
wrote special statements for the ad were former Assistant
Secretary of Housing and past managing Director of Dillon
Read, Catherine Austin Fitts, University of Illinois
law professor Francis Boyle, and former Democratic Congresswoman
Cynthia McKinney of Georgia.

Ruppert continued, "We knew
that if FTW were to try to book the ad alone we
would likely be turned down. Because the ad and its cartoon,
conceived byFTW's General Manager Mike Leon and
drawn for us by Canadian artist Blaine Machan, was critical
of the major media and the US economy's
corruption and reliance on drug money, we needed an edge," Ruppert
continued. "So we turned to the L.A.-based More Than
News agency and its owner Ken Levine for assistance.
We had worked with Ken – a former L.A. area TV news director
-- before and we trusted him."

Levine, working in concert
with the FTW subscriber purchased the ad space
through a major New York ad brokerage firm, with which
Levine has had good relations. That firm actually books
most of the Post's ad space and that provided
the necessary clout to get the ad to the next stage.

The text of the ad was submitted
to New York on April 15, well before White's firing.
According to Levine, there was quite a reaction. "They
had never seen anything like this. They liked it but
they thought the Post would never approve it even
though the Post has a decent history of running
political ads."

In two places the ad featured
statements highly critical of now-former Secretary White.
In her statement Fitts criticized White for his inability
to balance the Army's books at a time when the Department
of Defense has admittedly "misplaced" more that $3 trillion
of taxpayer money. Ruppert observed, "White's claim that
residual damage from the attacks of September 11th was
the cause for unbalanced books in the Army was ludicrous.
The attack of 9/11 hit the Navy Wing of the Pentagon.
How could that affect the Army?"

In the text of the ad itself
White was also criticized for his role as an Enron executive
which provided him with millions of dollars in income
while stockholders were being defrauded. White was subsequently
investigated for insider trading of Enron stock.

Boyle, a professor of international
law has been the leader in a growing movement to impeach
President George W. Bush for high crimes and misdemeanors
related to his prosecution of the Iraqi invasion. Recently,
articles of impeachment drafted by Boyle were reviewed
by several members of congress. McKinney, widely criticized
in the press for asking important questions about Bush
administration foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks and
the possibility of excessive profiteering by corporations
allied with the Bush administration, has since been vindicated
by congressional intelligence hearings and recent major
media stories concerning the Carlyle Group. She lost
her 2002 primary election to a newcomer in what is now
being labeled in a Georgia lawsuit
as a demonstrably-illegal Republican crossover vote.

"I asked these three heroes
to participate in the ad because they have all shown
great courage in acting as responsible public servants
and citizens and they have all suffered punishment as
a result. Yet they are still standing, still in the ring
and they deserve recognition for their perseverance," said
Ruppert.

But there was to be more
drama before the ad was printed.

The Washington Post advertising
department approved the text of the first ad just a day
after White's firing. According to Ruppert and Levine
it was not possible after that to change the text of
the ad without reopening the entire approval process
and risking a rejection after the ad had apparently been
leaked to government circles in Washington.

"And all we had was a window
of about two weeks when the ad was supposed to run under
the contract. We had no control over the exact day. So
we decided to let the first ad run without trying to
update it in the wake of White's firing," Ruppert observed. "It
was just too risky otherwise. The only thing that could
have blocked the ad -- which was purchased at a discount
rate through the ad brokerage -- would have been if there
was a sudden flurry of late advertisers who suddenly
decided to purchase full-price ads."

"We were told that this was
highly unlikely but, as it turns out, that's exactly
what happened," said Ruppert with a chuckle. "One of
our subscribers in the Washington area told us that he
had never seen so many full-page ads in his life."

When the two week contract
period was not met by the Post, FTW then
had the opportunity to change the text to what ran today
without risking a rejection. On Levine's advice the ad
was rebooked for another week and the second version
was published today.

From the start Ruppert was
skeptical that the ad would be allowed to run under any
circumstances. He views it's publication
today as something of a much needed miracle.

"When people see the kind
of reaction this ad produces and the power that they
have to stir the public and get real responses out of
government, I think we're going to see a lot more efforts
like this. It's one thing when one individual in a position
to do it pays for an ad like this. But twenty thousand
dollars isn't an unreachable amount for a hundred or
a thousand people. Pretty soon you might see people forming
coalitions to purchase commercials on television or blocks
of ads in major newspapers. That's how you reach the
people and keep good and accurate information from being
marginalized.

"It was also extremely important
that we recognized and gave energy to a number of independent
media sources that have made great contributions since
9/11. While much of America may
not know how much these organizations have influenced
events, they should. Independent media is filling a huge
vacuum left by the needlessly obedient mainstream press.

"It's called taking full
advantage of those aspects of free speech that the government
hasn't taken away yet. It's learning how the money works
and using it to your advantage. As Fitts always says,
'Vote with your money.'"

Click
here to download the ad in PDF format(Requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Suggest you right-click the link and Save Target As...
If you are having problems opening it: (1) Make sure you have the latest version
of Adobe Acrobat Reader, it is free at: www.adobe.com;
(2) Don't OPEN the ad from your browser. Save it to your hard drive first, then
open it by double-clicking on it. To see a 2-page version (easier to print), click here:2-Page
Version of Ad (674K)

FLYERS/HANDOUTS/POSTERSof the FTW AD that ran in The Washington
Post
NOTE: These are HIGH-RESOLUTION files.
They are intended for printing on a laser printer or
higher.
Do NOT download unless you have a high-speed connection.
(or are extremely patient!)

NOTE: Do
NOT Open these in your browser.
Please Right-Click and Save Target As...
Save them to your hard drive first,
then double-click on them to open them.

1-PAGE: 11.5"x22", prints
out well on 11"x17".Makes a great poster.FTW_Ad_FINAL.pdf (5.63
MB)

2-PAGE: 8.5" x 14", makes
a good 2-sided flyer.
Also prints well as 8.5"x11".FTW_AD_2-page-HR.pdf (4.19
MB)

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